Jim Goulart

Down 4-3 in the 8th, Lucroy with a sharp one-out single before White Sox second baseman C.J. Retherford absolutely crushed one to left -- three more outs for a Brewer (Javelina) championship. Makes me realize I miss baseball. That was cool to watch live. EDIT: Javelinas are champions! Lucroy at the bottom of a huge pigpile on the mound at the end.

Here's a link to the AFL's home page. At 1:35 PM Central on Saturday, there should be a video link there or directly at mlb.com to coverage of the AFL Championship Game, which will also be on MLB Network. We should see Lorenzo Cain and Jonathan Lucroy starting (hopefully), might catch Taylor Green, Mark Rogers thought he might get an inning despite his AFL struggles.

LHP Steve Garrison joins fellow lefty Joe Thatcher on the Padres' 40-man. Will Inman, not. Garrison also to undergo knee surgery, out until June.

LHP Steve Garrison joins fellow lefty Joe Thatcher on the Padres' 40-man. Will Inman, not. Garrison also to undergo knee surgery, out until June.

McCalvy's on fire lately, and tosses some education our way.

Huntsville's 2009 batting coach gets a major league gig with old friend Jim Riggleman -- The Nationals have officially named their 2010 field staff, retaining Steve McCatty (pitching coach), Rick Eckstein (hitting coach), and Pat Listach (3B coach) while adding John McLaren (bench coach), Dan Radison (1B coach), and Jim Lett (bullpen coach). I never realized Lett was prized as a catching coach -- might explain som of Jonathan Lucroy's defensive success this past season.

Both players dealt in the Felipe Lopez trade, OF Cole Gillespie and RHP Roque Mercedes, were added to the Diamondbacks' 40-man roster. Many of us forgot about the spawn of the Jose Mercedes and Rafael Roque families, no?

Both players dealt in the Felipe Lopez trade, OF Cole Gillespie and RHP Roque Mercedes, were added to the Diamondbacks' 40-man roster. Many of us forgot about the spawn of the Jose Mercedes and Rafael Roque families, no?

The folks over at BrewCrewBall have done a fine job with daily winter league updates I can't remember a Brewer prospect coming off his rookie pro season being given the leeway to perform in winter ball as 22-year-old 2009 6th round RHP Hiram Burgos has this year. The native Puerto Rican was inexpensive coming out of Bethune-Cookman ($15,000) -- so he's more advanced. Still a bit of a surprise.

You make an interesting point with this line: What am I missing here? We were 9th in attendance this year, drawing over 3 million fans, yet we rank 17th in payroll of all teams. That gives us about the 3rd lowest fan attendance/payroll ration in the big leagues, making us slightly less cheap than only the Marlins and Padres. Where is all this money going??? I hope when all you local folks factor in 3 million in attendance, you're working with figures that include one of the best overall bargains in ticket prices in all of baseball. I can promise you that the Red Sox have never had a bobblehead giveaway (or any giveaway of any substance for that matter). There are no discounts when you fill up at the local gas station. There are no budget plans of any sort -- weekday games, April nights, nothing. Now obviously the Boston market is an extreme example. But you've got it really good there in Milwaukee, I promise you. 3 Million is Awesome! Great job, Brewer fans! But no way does 3 million = 3 million all across baseball.

Tom H. on all the Brewer AFL'ers Only Zach Braddock saw action in today's game Once again, Tom H: Brewers prospect Zach Braddock finally had a bad relief outing in the Arizona Fall League today, allowing four hits, four walks and six runs in one-third of an inning. That's too bad because it was the final day of the AFL season and that one bad outing will skew Braddock's stats, ballooning his ERA from 0.94 to 5.25. So, when assessing Braddock's AFL performance, remember he pitched great until one bad outing at the end ruined his numbers. Scottsdale Top 8th Pitcher Change: Zach Braddock replaces Andrew Oliver. Chase d'Arnaud walks. With Brandon Crawford batting, Chase d'Arnaud picked off and caught stealing 2nd base, pitcher Zach Braddock to first baseman Russ Mitchell to shortstop Cale Iorg. Brandon Crawford singles on a line drive to center fielder Dustin Ackley. Jose Tabata doubles (6) on a line drive to right fielder Casper Wells. Brandon Crawford to 3rd. Brandon Allen doubles (6) on a fly ball to right fielder Casper Wells. Brandon Crawford scores. Jose Tabata to 3rd. Thomas Neal walks. Coaching visit to mound. Buster Posey walks. Jose Tabata scores. Brandon Allen to 3rd. Thomas Neal to 2nd. Cole Gillespie walks. Brandon Allen scores. Thomas Neal to 3rd. Buster Posey to 2nd. Wilin Rosario doubles (3) on a line drive to left fielder Andrew Lambo. Thomas Neal scores. Buster Posey scores. Cole Gillespie scores. Pitcher Change: Robbie Weinhardt replaces Zach Braddock. Coaching visit to mound. Pedro Ciriaco flies out to center fielder Dustin Ackley. Chase d'Arnaud strikes out on foul tip. Zach's pitch speeds are available via Gameday , 8th inning, click pitch-by-pitch. Won't face Stephen Strasburg Saturday, very minor knee injury.

Chris Mehring with the details for all you locals

Not sure that Rob Wooten expected to pitch Wednesday, as the Javelinas held a 6-1 lead heading into the bottom of the 8th. But when Dodgers pitcher Kenley Jansen had a rocky start to the inning, Wooten was called upon needing only one out, but allowed two inherited runners to score as well as two of his own to take the 7-6 loss. Jonathan Lucroy singled and walked in five trips, and no opponent attempted a steal. Taylor Green was 0-for-2. Regular season finale Thursday, then a day off before facing Stephen Strasburg in the nationally televised (MLB Network, MLB.com) championship game Saturday afternoon. Phoenix Bottom 8th Pitcher Change: Kenley Jansen replaces Kyle Bellamy. Grant Desme strikes out swinging. Josh Bell doubles (9) on a fly ball to center fielder Trayvon Robinson. Nevin Ashley pops out to shortstop Carlos Triunfel. Shawn O'Malley walks. Darin Mastroianni hit by pitch. Josh Bell to 3rd. Shawn O'Malley to 2nd. Coaching visit to mound. Matt Angle singles on a sharp line drive to right fielder Jordan Danks. Josh Bell scores. Shawn O'Malley scores. Darin Mastroianni to 2nd. Pitcher Change: Robert Wooten replaces Kenley Jansen. Coaching visit to mound. Danny Espinosa singles on a line drive to right fielder Jordan Danks. Darin Mastroianni scores. Matt Angle to 2nd. Corey Brown doubles (6) on a fly ball to right fielder Jordan Danks. Matt Angle scores. Danny Espinosa scores. Chris Marrero singles on a ground ball to center fielder Trayvon Robinson. Corey Brown scores. Grant Desme called out on strikes.

Discuss the Kottaras signing here, but thanks for the minor league reminder as well (out of options, so he'd have the choice to accept or refuse any AAA placement if outrighted next spring.)

Baseball America added to its list with this post.

Yes, nice when all the analysis reaches a fairly obvious conclusion. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif The moves are being discussed in the Major league Forum here. We'll close this thread and open a new Rule 5 thread when the Winter Meetings draw near in December.

Baseball America now has the same list, but with a few more details on the breakdown.

Wow, big oops on my part. That's what I get for not starting a new thread altogether. Yes, the only seemingly obvious decisions for the Brewers are Cain and Rivas, thus the 40-man would jump up to 35, not 36. Thanks.

Bumping this thread, as players need to be added to the 40-man roster by Friday November 20th in order to be protected from Rule 5: Remember -- Players who signed when 18 or younger are eligible for the draft after five years. Players who signed when 19 or older are eligible after four years. This is why LHP Zach Braddock and IF Taylor Green, for instance, do not need to be added this fall. So in terms of 40-man roster consideration, these are the players who would be Rule 5 eligible if not placed on the 40-man roster. Thanks to poster Minigoon for tracking a lot of this for us -- RHP Chris Cody RHP Robert Hinton RHP David Johnson OF Brendan Katin 1B Joe Koshansky RHP Josh Butler OF Lorenzo Cain OF Chuckie Caufield C/1B J.R. Hopf 2B Shane Justis RHP Mike McClendon SS Yohannis Perez LHP David Welch LHP Brae Wright C Anderson De La Rosa 1B Chris Errecart LHP Mike Ramlow RHP Amaury Rivas UT Juan Sanchez 1B Brock Kjeldgaard LHP Jose Romero RHP Rolando Pascual IF Erick Almonte C Patrick Arlis RHP Mike Jones RHP Mike Burns INF Johnny Raburn RHP Juan Sandoval OF Adam Stern RHP Jim Henderson So Lorenzo Cain, Josh Butler, and Amaury Rivas appear to be locks. Close but probably no cigar on Chris Cody. That would bump the 40-man roster from 33 to 36.

Zach Braddock extends his scoreless streak despite allowing two singles, benefiting from a strike-em-out-throw-em-out. Surprise Bottom 8th Pitcher Change: Zach Braddock replaces Javy Guerra. Brandon Laird singles on a fly ball to center fielder Trayvon Robinson. Ike Davis flies out to left fielder Andrew Lambo. Mitch Moreland singles on a ground ball to right fielder Casper Wells. Brandon Laird to 2nd. Taylor Teagarden strikes out swinging and Brandon Laird caught stealing 3rd, catcher Jessie Mier to third baseman Taylor Green. Taylor Green singled twice in addition to his sac fly -- he needed that.

536 players.... By far, this is the latest in the season we've seen this list, and this blogger was able to obtain the MLB list and post it even prior to Baseball America, which has promised it for a week or two now. I haven't reviewed it for suggestions yet, but plan to shortly, also taking into account Nashville's needs, and whether those holes will be filled 100% by Huntsville players (very doubtful, just by the sheer numbers).

The following players, unless they will re-sign with the Brewers, are now officially minor league free agents. This was also mentioned in this thread where we had done some speculation earlier. We'll log it here for record-keeping purposes. Milwaukee (14) Pitchers: LHP Chris Capuano, RHP Ruben Flores, Matt Ginter, LHP Lindsay Gulin, RHP Ryan Houston, RHP Wes Littleton, LHP Sam Narron, LHP Chase Wright Catchers: Carlos Corporan Infielders: Michael Garciaparra, Kevin Melillo Outfielders: Drew Anderson, Jon Knott, Freddy Parejo

The following players, unless they will re-sign with the Brewers, are now officially minor league free agents. Milwaukee (14) Pitchers: LHP Chris Capuano, RHP Ruben Flores, Matt Ginter, LHP Lindsay Gulin, RHP Ryan Houston, RHP Wes Littleton, LHP Sam Narron, LHP Chase Wright Catchers: Carlos Corporan Infielders: Michael Garciaparra, Kevin Melillo Outfielders: Drew Anderson, Jon Knott, Freddy Parejo ************************************************************************** How did this compare to the list we posted back on September 13th? A player who has exhausted all seven years of his original minor league affiliation to the organization that signed him is eligible. Here are the Brewers farmhands who have been with the organization for their full commitment (or even longer in the cases of Jones and Lluberes). We've been following these guys their whole careers. C Carlos Corporan INF Adam Heether -- now on 40-man RHP Mike Jones -- re-signed OF Freddy Parejo LHP Rafael Lluberes (re-signed again?) Once a player's original affiliated contract is terminated, minor league players all assume one-year deals going forward with any organization that signs them. Often, especially with younger players below AAA who perform well after literally being picked up from the scrap heap, the organization and the player will both seek to renew the contract for another season fairly quickly -- RHP's Jim Henderson and Brandon Kintzler would seem to fall into that category this year. Here are the players who aren't on their original Brewers affiliated contract who would otherwise be free to walk in mid-October: IF Erick Almonte -- re-signed C Patrick Arlis -- re-signed OF Chris Duffy -- previously granted free agncy RHP Matt Ginter LHP Lindsay Gulin RHP Ryan Houston OF Jon Knott LHP Sam Narron IF Johnny Raburn -- re-signed OF Tike Redman -- signed for 2010 OF Adam Stern -- re-signed LHP Chase Wright OF Drew Anderson IF Michael Garciaparra RHP Jim Henderson -- re-signed RHP Brandon Kintzler -- either re-signed or wasn't eligible RHP Wes Littleton IF Kevin Melillo RHP Juan Sandoval -- re-signed RHP Buddy Flores C Martin Maldonado -- either re-signed or wasn't eligible C Sean McCraw -- either re-signed or wasn't eligible LHP Chris Capuano RHP Ryan DeLaughter -- either re-signed or wasn't eligible

28 pitches in an eventful 1st inning for Josh, gets out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam, strikes out the side. EDIT: 2nd inning, not so lucky -- ugh... Surprise Bottom 2nd Colin Curtis walks. Jeff Bianchi flies out to right fielder Casper Wells. Ruben Tejada walks. Colin Curtis to 2nd. Jarrod Dyson doubles (2) on a line drive to left fielder Andrew Lambo. Colin Curtis scores. Ruben Tejada scores. Coaching visit to mound. Daniel Descalso lines out to center fielder Trayvon Robinson. Brandon Laird walks. Ike Davis singles on a line drive to center fielder Trayvon Robinson. Jarrod Dyson scores. Brandon Laird to 3rd. Coaching visit to mound. Pitcher Change: Omar Aguilar replaces Josh Butler. Mitch Moreland walks. Ike Davis to 2nd. Taylor Teagarden grounds into a force out, fielded by shortstop Justin Sellers. Mitch Moreland out at 2nd. 1.2 innings, 4 hits, 4 walks, three runs for Butler. 55(!) pitches, only 27 for strikes. Omar Aguliar worked 1.1 innings, walking two and allowing one run. Taylor Green has a sacrifice fly, it's still early.

Josh Butler gets the start here in a few minutes (box / gameday). Taylor Green batting 7th, no Cain or Lucroy to start.